Gorephilia’s style is most reminiscent, to my ears, of death metal in the mid 00’s.  A time when Death metal sought modernization, and evolution from it’s golden era of 88-94.  The spirit remained but bands strived to enhance, production, speed, and heaviness simultaneously into new dimensions beyond the theoretical planes of heaven or hell into […]

It’s 1995 and every Friday night three close teenage friends gather in a typical suburban basement.  Each bring a homespun costume representing their character.  Old drapes for a cape, modified used cowboy boots, metal pans from Goodwill re-worked into armor, and sharp, real weapons bought from the big flee market last summer.  The two 30 […]

Gwarth II is Thoren’s 4th album. I’ll proceed as if the reader is wholly unfamiliar with Thoren because it’s no stretch to assume that you, like myself, probably are.  I believe this is of a metal craftsmanship even your long retired mechanical drafter grandpa can appreciate.  …Ha.  No.  He would screech at you to “turn […]

Do you pine for the grimy years of Blasphemy?  Have you always hoped they would drop one last dirty bomb of skinhead ignorance?  Did you spend month’s booze budget for die hard versions of the last reissues?  If so, then dudes… there are a LOT of options in lo-fi bestial bands who have adopted that […]

As is common for the musically addicted I was perusing Bandcamp’s metal feed for something new and fitting to play before driving off.  Scrolling along I made a stopping glance at the Pyre cover.  After swiping down the feed a few more times I felt compelled to go back to it.  Like any of us […]

per the Lord of the Rings wiki compendium, Orthanc is the black tower of Isengard where resides the corrupt wizard, Sarumon.  Keys of Orthanc are an atmospheric black metal band whose identity is firmly obvious, belonging to a near endless metal museum wing of bands using the formative Tolkien universe for which to base their […]

As it goes, I found myself in a part of my music cycle where the lowest tuned riffs written by the lowest forms of subterranean life is what I seek.  So I go get lost in the pit of decaying offal that is the Slam Worldwide YouTube channel until I find something new that hits […]

When you and the crew are hanging out in the basement smoking and watching epic fail videos on Youtube are you the tunes master?  The one who is trusted to wield the aux cable to feed the vibes, facilitating the good times until the last dude is passed out?   Are you getting gripes under breath […]

You’re going to want to cover your mouth and nose before entering the area.  7 of ‘em.  Needles and the usual paraphernalia scattered around.  Definitely a junkie den.  All in more or less the same state of decomposure.  Ironically, not from the heroin.  No, an outbreak of flesh eating bacterial staff infection.  ‘Cept for one […]

Fin actually play a rather original variation of black metal on the band’s second album, Arrows Of A Dying Age. The unique melodic sensibility of guitarist/vocalist M.K. , and perhaps the tuning itself, make for a triumphant, and almost life affirming form of black metal as opposed to inspiring the usually projected themes of hate, […]

What better music to review post intestinal surgery, than classic-style death metal.  Morbid Flesh play no-nonsense death metal rooted in 90’s European styles of which we are all familiar.  Coming from Barcelona you can hear they absorbed bits from the various metal epicenters around Europe.  You’ll hear the groove of the Netherlands, sinister crawl of […]

Goatmoon have little web presence, only recently creating a Facebook page and managed by an affiliate of the band.  They show little interest in interviews, or articulating their ideologies, opinions, or musings beyond the music they release.  In fact, I can already hear him spouting dismissal and obscenities in harsh Finnish, “Critics and reviewers can […]

By the looks I figured Brain Spasm would be peddling a sound not unlike Frightmare or maybe a particularly naughty version of Ghoul; not exactly.   While they do have one gangrenous leg planted on the campy side of the divide this is internal organ smoothie slurping goregrind.   These schlock horror loving,  Farthammer.com account sharing, trailer […]

Hammerhands takes the atmosphere and vocal stylings of later Tom Waits records but replaces the music with widescreen desert rock and colliding waves of sandstorm sludge/hardcore.  Largo Forte is an engrossing album and delivers with frequent surprises in song composition.  Truly, I didn’t see what was coming at many points on Largo Forte and that’s […]

Coscradh is a black/death metal band from Ireland, fittingly signed to Irish label Invictus Productions.  Ireland has always seemed to be a perpetually overlooked, but feisty, country for metal.  This is strange considering it’s rather unique and concentrated history even in relation to the wealth of cultural legacies throughout Europe.  Ireland, due to it’s end-of-the-known-map […]

Defeated Sanity return to us with an unorthodox dual e.p. release.  As they should.  With a discography of stellar releases they have an earned reputation for reaching beyond the death metal abyss and fans expect more from them than even the nearest band to their rank.  Last we heard from these dastardly villains was 2013’s […]

Near is an Italian metal band.  By nationality alone it’s natural to assume the styles of metal that drip melodrama.  Seven minute songs spinning tales of velvet draped gothic-romance where the blood of a lover is dashed across marble columns, ranging from symphonic grandiosity to tear jerking doom.  Near takes it down several notches and […]

Imperial Triumphant are from the New York City area and Inceste is inspired by the works of Parisian grand kink-philosopher Marquis de Sade. Inceste is blackened metal intersecting the physical and psychological pain realms of Deathspell Omega and Naked City (John Zorn’s genre-frappe jazz group).  I suppose you could generally label it “black metal” for […]

See album cover for review.  The end. “Hey, dude that’s dismissive.  Drop the cynicism and do it right!” Ok.  Sure.  Point taken.  “Don’t judge a book…”, “What you don’t know might surprise you”, etc.  Even if the cover of this “book” is as telling as Johnny Cash, the Autobiography by Johnny Cash.  The many tentacled […]

Infernal Curse is charred, bottomless pit dwelling black/death metal coming from Argentina.  Over the years I’ve notice that South America tends to produce bands that deliver highly concentrated versions of their chosen metal genre and its accompanying aesthetic traits.  On Apocalipsis the catholic cathedral reverb is cranked a few notches past the usual.  Every touchstone […]

While driving to see King Diamond on their most recent tour I was playing 2015s Hole Below and discussing the record with my friend.  I had been listening to the album a hell of a lot and was finding it a little difficult to explain why I thought it was so enjoyable yet not particularly […]

  Ruach Raah play scummy black metal with an punk evil spirit (as their name translates).  Probably best received live in a crumbling stone walled, graffiti splattered basement in their native Portugal.  All members in ski masks and faded black everything spazzing angrily.  There are no samples, no solo’s, no interludes, no god forsaken frills.  […]

Strap on your gas mask and be attentive for the air raid siren, citizens.  The enemy can strike at any time!  Kommandant‘s ranks are filled with Chicago metal veterans having between them played in area acts such as Forest of Impaled, Cianide, Enforsaken and, to no one’s surprise, each member had at some point lent […]

Admittedly, I checked out Mutilatred‘s album based on the name, having snickered to myself, “Music is truly running out of band names”.  This is no cut on the band because we have certainly passed the point of peak band name in the same way that geological research has declared for oil.  Rather, it’s interesting to […]

Prior to happening across their entry in this sites secret and fathomless vault of promo offerings, I hadn’t yet heard of Mefitic.  By light of my candle I glimpsed a familiar name upon the shelving racks, just at the point before they spiral so high as to disappear into the fog like dusty blackness above:  […]